Social groups: religious groups and communities Books

Book SynopsisThough long thought of as one of the most virulently anti-gay genres of contemporary American politics and culture, this book maintains that religious discourses have curiously figured as the most potent and pervasive forms of queer expression and activism throughout the twentieth century.Trade ReviewGod Hates Fags is an excellent way to become immersed in the issues and rhetorical arguments of a sub-cultural world of American religious and political disourse. -- Richard Hughes Seager * American Studies Journal *God Hates Fags is an exciting, even exceptional, book, and it will contribute to an important and necessary conversation between queer studies and African American literary and cultural studies. -- Christopher Nealon,author of Foundlings: Lesbian and Gay Historical Emotion Before StonewallLooks specifically at texts and spectacles about religious violence and hatred. -- Julie Novkov,University at Albany, SUNYMichael Cobb raises questions of both ethics and effectiveness that are deeply urgent. If you, too, want to know how the rhetorics of violence that swirl around queer people work, then read this book. -- Janet R. Jakobsen,co-author of Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious ToleranceI am moved by it, as by his practiced rhetorical sensibility. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *[Cobb] begins not only in the middle of still fresh news (Matthew Shepard, Fred Phelps, Colorados Amendment 2, and the marriage debates), but in the middle of ordinary assumptions about rhetoric and our east elision of sexuality with race. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Last Safe Group to Hate 1 The Language of National Security: A Queer Theory of Religious Language 2 James Baldwin and His Queer, Religious Words 3 Like a Prayer 4 Rights as Wrongs Conclusion: Our Aberrant Future NotesIndex About the Author

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Book Synopsis2007 Choice Outstanding Academic TitleAt the funeral of Matthew Shepardthe young Wyoming man brutally murdered for being gaythe Reverend Fred Phelps led his parishioners in protest, displaying signs with slogans like Matt Shepard rots in Hell, Fags Die God Laughs, and God Hates Fags. In counter-protest, activists launched an angel action, dressing in angel costumes, with seven-foot high wings, and creating a visible barrier so one would not have to see the hateful signs.Though long thought of as one of the most virulently anti-gay genres of contemporary American politics and culture, in God Hates Fags, Michael Cobb maintains that religious discourses have curiously figured as the most potent and pervasive forms of queer expression and activism throughout the twentieth century. Cobb focuses on how queers have assumed religious rhetoric strategically to respond to the violence done against them, alternating close readings of writings by James Baldwin, TennessTrade ReviewGod Hates Fags is an excellent way to become immersed in the issues and rhetorical arguments of a sub-cultural world of American religious and political disourse. -- Richard Hughes Seager * American Studies Journal *God Hates Fags is an exciting, even exceptional, book, and it will contribute to an important and necessary conversation between queer studies and African American literary and cultural studies. -- Christopher Nealon,author of Foundlings: Lesbian and Gay Historical Emotion Before StonewallLooks specifically at texts and spectacles about religious violence and hatred. -- Julie Novkov,University at Albany, SUNYMichael Cobb raises questions of both ethics and effectiveness that are deeply urgent. If you, too, want to know how the rhetorics of violence that swirl around queer people work, then read this book. -- Janet R. Jakobsen,co-author of Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious ToleranceI am moved by it, as by his practiced rhetorical sensibility. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *[Cobb] begins not only in the middle of still fresh news (Matthew Shepard, Fred Phelps, Colorados Amendment 2, and the marriage debates), but in the middle of ordinary assumptions about rhetoric and our east elision of sexuality with race. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Last Safe Group to Hate 1 The Language of National Security: A Queer Theory of Religious Language 2 James Baldwin and His Queer, Religious Words 3 Like a Prayer 4 Rights as Wrongs Conclusion: Our Aberrant Future NotesIndex About the Author

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Book SynopsisExamines classic and contemporary Jewish and African American children's literatureThrough close readings of selected titles published since 1945, Jodi Eichler-Levine analyzes what is at stake in portraying religious history for young people, particularly when the histories in question are traumatic ones. In the wake of the Holocaust and lynchings, of the Middle Passage and flight from Eastern Europe''s pogroms, children's literature provides diverse and complicated responses to the challenge of representing difficultcollective pasts.In reading the work of various prominent authors, including Maurice Sendak, Julius Lester, Jane Yolen, Sydney Taylor, and Virginia Hamilton, Eichler-Levine changes our understanding of North American religions. She illuminates how narratives of both suffering and nostalgia graft future citizens into ideals of American liberal democracy, and into religious communities that can be understood according to recognizable notions of reTrade ReviewExhibits an impressive command of multiple disciplines to offer a compelling of reading of Jewish and African American childrens literatures. . . . Eichler-Levine's close readings of youth literatures and reader responses are always clear and often delightful as she deftly works at the crossroads, providing new signposts for navigating vexing questions at the intersections of religion, citizenship, trauma, and redemption. -- Liora Gubkin,author of You Shall Tell Your Children: Holocaust Memory in American Passover RitualJodi Eichler-Levines insightful book illuminates the importance of fear and suffering in shaping African American and Jewish childrens literature. Her book gives a cogent understanding of how each community's difficult historical narratives coupled with their religious and social lives have helped to prepare children to engage an American civic life that has been hostile at times to their ethnic groups. -- Anthea Butler,University of PennsylvaniaThis rich and rewarding study invites fresh thought about the political religiosity of stories for children and the potential of contemporary children's literature to help forge a new politics of American childhood. -- Amy Fish * Children's Literature *Whats so exciting about Suffer the Little Children is that it brings a deeply grounded religious studies perspective to bear on contemporary American childrens literature in ways that enrich both the study of literature and our understanding of childhoods role in U.S. Judeo-Christian cultures. By focusing on American childrens books by and about Jews and African Americans and the core tropes that interweave through these textsfrom the idea of 'chosenness' to the haunting spectre of genocideEichler-Levine gives new meaning to the idea of the `sacralized child. Suffer the Little Children sheds new light on the relationships between race, religion, citizenship, and childhood. It also reminds us once more of why childrens literature provides such a revealing lens for analyzing American culture. -- Julia Mickenberg * Learning from the Left: Children’s Literature, the Cold War, and Radical Politics in the U.S. *In this startling analysis of children's literature written by African Americans, Jews, and African American Jews, Eichler-Levine (religion/Jewish studies, Univ. of Wisconsin, Oshkosh) claims that 'redemptive' stories about victimization are a necessary part of these works in order to gain acceptance. * Choice *Eichler-Levine exhibits mastery of this genre in a scholarly, comprehensive book that brings a literate, impassioned, interrogative analytical lens to familiar and lesser known children's books. * Catholic Library World *Jodi Eichler-Levine sets out to make the connections between African American and Jewish childrens literature, a potentially fruitful area of study because of the two groups shared inheritance of similar Biblical stories. * Children's Literature Association Quarterly *Eichler-Levine's appreciation for the art and transcendent possibility of children's books will inspire other scholars of religion, American history, and literature to pick up childhood favorites. In so doing,Suffer the Little Childrenpromises to spark a broader investigation of the wide-ranging contributions Jewish writers have made to this understudied literary tradition. * American Jewish History *Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgments Introduction: Wild Things and Chosen Children A Word about Language 1 Remembering the Way into Membership Part I: Crossing and Dwelling:After lives of Moses and Miriam 2 The Unbearable Lightness of Exodus 3 Dwelling in Chosen Nostalgia Part II: Binding and Unbinding:Hauntings of Isaac and Jephthah's Daughter4 Bound to Violence: Lynching, the Holocaust, and the Limits of Representation 5 Unbound in Fantasy: Reading Monstrosity and the Supernatural Conclusion: The Abrahamic Bargain Appendix: Children's Books Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the British empire, this book assesses the extent to which Jews participated in the institution of slavery through investment in slave trading companies, ownership of slave ships, commercial activity as merchants who sold slaves upon their arrival from Africa, and direct ownership of slaves.Trade ReviewFor anyone in search of ammunition to refute farfetched claims about Jewish culpability for the enslavement of Africans in America, this is the place to look. -- Peter Kolchin * Los Angeles Times *The only way to set the record straight is to do what those making the claim [of Jewish domination of the slave trade and widespread slave ownership] have failed to do, namely sift through the entire body of evidence, with a view to determining the scale and nature of the Jewish contribution. This is precisely what Faber does. -- Howard Temperley * Times Literary Supplement *Extremely thorough . . . convincing. * Journal of American History *A well-researched study that neither allocates blame nor exonerates the participants in the peculiar institution, but puts to rest a pernicious anti-Semitic libel of recent coinage. * Kirkus Reviews *Stunning. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisEvery December 12th, thousands of Mexican immigrants gather for the mass at New York City's St Patrick's Cathedral in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast day. They kiss images of the Virgin, wait for a bishop's blessing - and they also carry signs asking for immigration reform. This book examines this juxtaposition of religion and politics.Trade Review"Professor Galvez presents the social and anthropological theoretical framework for all these developments clearly and succinctly, making this book a valuable addition to academic studies on Latinos in the United States and an excellent college text. But all readers will find the individual immigrant stories and the organizational travails thoroughly engaging and the journeys of faith inspiring." * American Catholic Studies *"Galvez' book is a fascinating and valuable study of the intersection between contemporary religious practice and national identity among New York City's Mexican immigrant community." -- Paul Kahan * Religious Studies Review *"Gálvezs rich ethnographic study of Mexican immigrants in New York City highlights their devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe not only as a religious practice but as a means to create community and public life in the United States. Given the ongoing and increasing presence of Mexicans immigrants in the Northeast, Guadalupe in New York is an important study that social scientists, educators, religious workers, and public servants should read to understand the persistent and complex role that Guadalupe devotion plays in the lives of Mexicans in the United States." -- Joseph M. Palacios,Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Georgetown University"Portrays the dilemmas of being a recent Mexican immigrant in New York City today. This book analyzes how the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe provides a means for immigrants to articulate their aspirations for belonging and, ultimately, citizenship in the United States. Written with vivid grace, this book is a pleasure to read and should be required reading for all concerned with these issues." -- Renato Rosaldo,Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Emeritus, Stanford University"Galvezs findings offer much to consider for students of religious, ethnic, and transnational identities." * Choice *Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgments 1 Introduction 2 On Citizenship, Membership, and the Right to Have Rights 3 Los Comites Guadalupanos and Asociacion Tepeyac: Their Formation and Context 4 Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Image and Its Circulation 5 El Viacrucis del Inmigrante and Other Public Processions 6 La Antorcha Guadalupana/The Guadalupan Torch Run: Messengers for a People Divided by the Border 7 Conclusion: Citizenship for Immigrants Appendix: A Note on Methodology and the Use of Pseudonyms Notes References Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThis title offers a view of the entirety of modern Hebrew literature, from Berdichevski and Agnon to Shammas and Habiby, shedding light on the moments of rupture and reversal which have undermined efforts to construct a hegemonic Zionist narrative.Trade Review"[Hever] offers an alternative reading of the historiography of Hebrew literature and of major narratives in it." * Reference & Research Book News *"In this vigorously argued and controversial study, Hannan Hever applies the insights of post-colonial theory to the case of modern Hebrew literature, which began as the writing of an imagined national community in Eastern Europe and went on to become a majority literature in Israel. Hever's erudition and conceptual powers are never less than impressive." -- Alan Mintz,Brandeis University"Since the late eighties, Hever's critical project has outlined for me not only the way I read modern Hebrew literature but also the way I read my own writing against that literature. This book not only offers a brilliant, insightful, and unsettling contemplation on the role of literary canonization and minority discourse in the construction of national imagination, but, above all, an appositional voice whose critical stance is bound to inform the work of a new generation of Hebrew scholars." -- Anton Shammas,University of Michigan

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Book SynopsisDraws on oral histories and interviews with approximately 100 women across several cities to provide an overview of women's historical contributions and their varied experiences of the NOI, including both its continuing community under Farrakhan and its offshoot into Sunni Islam under Imam W D Mohammed.Trade Review"A fascinating and well researched book that expands our knowledge about Islam in the United States. Its analysis of the interactions between the Nation of Islam and mainstream Islam is a model for the scholarship on African American Islam. Anyone who wishes to understand the complex religious identities of contemporary African-American Muslim women should read this book." -- Richard Brent Turner,author of Islam in the African-American Experience Second Edition"Will add handsomely to the growing body of scholarship on the important topic of Islam in America, with particular reference to Islam in the black American community. The authors have provided us a useful and fascinating glimpse into an extremely interesting and undertheorized subject." -- Sherman A. Jackson,author of Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Towards the Third Resurrection"This text emerges to provide some transparency for readers about these womens lives and the lives of those who left the Nation to follow Warith Deen Mohammed. Women are in the foreground, but not without the persistent and sometimes overriding presence of the men that they marry, contend with, and serve. The co-authors actually have different strengthsKarim is an insider while Gibson is the outsider. The resultant collaboration provides readers with varying lenses into this community of women." * Choice *"Women of the Nationwill prove an essential resource for any scholar or teacher interested in the experiences and contributions of black women to both Islam and black nationalism in American history." * The Journal of American History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. "Our Nation": Women and the NOI, Pre-1975 2. "Thank God It Changed!": Women's Transition to Sunni Islam, 1975-80 3. Resurrecting the Nation: Women in Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam 4. Women in the Nation of Islam and the Warith Deen Mohammed Community: Crafting a Dialogue Conclusion Notes Index About the Authors

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Book SynopsisOffers a portrait of Jewish life. The authors argue that there is a new generation of Jews. In this book, the authors take us around the world and find Jewish communities where Jewish identity is increasingly flexible and inclusive, not something to be hidden but a part of one's identity to be proud of. They focus on new elements of Jewish life.Trade Review"New Jews makes the provocative argument that the Israel-Diaspora dichotomy no longer exists. In a series of engaging ethnographies of Jewish communities in America, Russia and Israel, Aviv and Shneer reveal a new generation of Jews embarked on a renaissance liberated from old ideologies and committed to creating homes where they live. A celebration of pluralism, this sure-to-be controversial book finds Jewish unity not in slogans but in the common search for new identities." -- David Biale,author of Cultures of the Jews: A New History"Offers a new way to look at contemporary Jewry, not just its present complicated realities, but the history behind the recent departures. Well researched, deeply contextualized, and written in a sprightly manner, New Jews demonstrates that Jews at the beginning of the twenty-first century have created new spaces, new places, and new faces in which to live and by which to present themselves." -- Hasia R. Diner,author of The Jews of the United States, 1654-2000"New Jews is a thoughtful, persuasive case for why the Diaspora matters." * Secular Culture *"Examining locations as diverse as New York, San Francisco and Moscow, Aviv and probe what makes Jews feel at home." * Lilith *"This is a wide-ranging work . . . there is a definite shift afoot in thinking about matters of Jewish identity, and this is a worthwhile and useful effort toward articulating new directions." * Central Conference of American Rabbis Newsletter *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroduction: From Diaspora Jews to New Jews1 Let My People Stay: Moscow's Jews after the Exodus 2 Encounters with Ghosts: Youth Tourism and the Diaspora Business 3 Temples of American Identity: Jewish Museums in Los Angeles 4 Castro, Chelsea, and Tel Aviv: Queer Jews at Home 5 Our Kind of Town: New York is a Center of the Jewish Universe Epilogue: The End of the Jews Notes Index About the Authors

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Book SynopsisExamines the workplace spirituality movement, and explores how it is both shaping and being shaped by American business culture. This book analyzes the enhanced benefits and support that workplace spirituality offers to employees, while exposing the conflicts it engenders, including diversity, religious freedom, and discrimination issues.Trade ReviewLake Lambert III...offers a thoughtful, engagingly written, and well informed introduction to the recent upsurge in religious expression on the job...will make for rewarding reading for scholars of the post-World War II American business history. -- Bethany Moreton * Enterprise and Society *Lambert does a very good job of summarizing the historical factors which have brought us to this present situation, and also of describing the various ways that spirituality is currently expressed in the workplace. -- Len MacRae * Studies in Religion *Faith at work is emerging as an exciting and challenging new movement in corporate America. While there are hundreds of popular books written on the subject, Lamberts Spirituality, Inc. is an excellent contribution to the small but growing book shelf of scholarly reflections on the movement. -- David W. Miller,author of God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work MovementProvides an exceptional treatment of a much neglected dimension of religious life in America. Drawing on theology, management studies, history, cultural studies and sociology, Lambert provides a powerful description of contemporary efforts to weave religious significance from the strands of our workaday lives. Anyone who is interested in popular religion in America, the meaning of work, and the challenge of meaning in the contemporary context will surely applaud the arrival of this book. -- Graham Reside,executive director, Cal Turner Program in Moral Leadership for the ProfessionsIn this deeply researched book, Lambert argues that millennials enjoy pondering spirituality and religion, even aloud and in public. * Harvard Business Review *How we got from Calvinism and the Bible-based idea of vocation to the widespread and vaguely spiritual workplace of today is clearly told by Lambert in Spirituality, Inc. * Wall Street Journal *Lambert is evenhanded in his analysis...[he] frames the topic so broadly and contextualizes it so historically and intellectually that I rethought the contours of the entire field. * The Journal of American History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments 1 Finding Meaning in Business 2 The Genealogy of Corporate Spirituality 3 The Making of a "Christian Company" 4 Jesus as a Management Guru 5 The Spiritual Education of a Manager 6 Team Chaplains, Life Coaches, and Whistling Referees 7 The Future of Workplace Spirituality Notes Select Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2013 New York Book Show Award in Scholarly/Professional Cover DesignJewish Radicals explores the intertwined histories of Jews and the American Left through a rich variety of primary documents. Written in English and Yiddish, these documents reflect the entire spectrum of radical opinion, from anarchism to social democracy, Communism to socialist-Zionism. Rank-and-file activists, organizational leaders, intellectuals, and commentators, from within the Jewish community and beyond, all have their say. Their stories crisscross the Atlantic, spanning from the United States to Europe and British-ruled Palestine.The documents illuminate in fascinating detail the efforts of large numbers of Jews to refashion themselves as they confronted major problems of the twentieth century: poverty, anti-semitism, the meaning of American national identity, war, and totalitarianism. In this comprehensive sourcebook, the story of Jewish radicals over sevTrade ReviewFrom America's leading historian of Yiddish-speaking radicalism comes this rich anthology of contemporary Jewish-American voices from the 1880s through the 1940s. Among the diverse experiences and points of view reflected here, Michels convincingly identifies three dominant threadssocialist awakening as a rite-of-passage, the agony and ecstasy of political struggle, and Yiddish-based education as a labor-centered project with an uncertain agenda for national emancipation. -- Leon Fink,editor of Labor Studies in Working-Class History of the AmericasMichels has assembled a fine collection of primary sources, one that successfully illuminates the experiences of Jewish radicals and uncovers many unknown and remote voices. This book will appeal to both lay readers and a scholarly audience. -- Evan C. Rothera * Yearbook of German-American Studies *This book will stimulate the mind and gladden the heart of anyone who cares about the history of American Jews or the American left and the always close, if eternally tempestuous relationship between them. Tony Michels has assembled a feast of documents and is an expert guide to their meaning and context. -- Michael Kazin,author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a NationHe has made an important contribution to out understanding of one significant aspect of American Jewish history * The Jewish Chronicles *Whether devoured in big chunks, or savored in small bites, Jewish Radicals is a fun and fortifying read. * Jewish Currents *[Michels] has made an important contribution to our understanding of [a] significant aspect of American Jewish history. * Buffalo Jewish Review *Recommended for upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Jewish-Socialist Nexus Tony MichelsPart I: AwakeningsAbraham BisnoEmma GoldmanAlexander BittelmanLucy Robins LangPaul JacobsPart II: In Struggle Di nyu-yorker yidishe folkstsaytungDovid EdelshtatBernard VaynshteynDi arbeter tsaytungWomen's Societies Alexander BerkmanAbraham ShiplacoffIsadore WisotskyRose Pastor StokesAbraham CahanLouis WaldmanLouis MichelJusticeSam DarcyUpton SinclairThe NationWomen's Circle, Branch 417Isadore BernickFrank CrosswaithJennie CohenJ. B. S. HardmanPart III: Life of the Mind Ida Van EttenEducation SocietiesPauline NewmanBernard G. RichardsPhillip DavisNew York TimesA. FaynmanB. SheyferOswald Garrison VillardUnited Jewish Workers' Cultural SocietyInternational Ladies' Garment Workers' UnionN. GlassUnited Council of Yiddish Women's Reading Circles of DetroitNathan AusubelPart IV: The Russian Revolution New York TimesLouis WaldmanKatherina MarysonNew York TimesMoissaye J. OlginWorkers' (Communist) Party; Roger Baldwin and Earl BrowderNokhum KhaninMax GranichVanguardPaul JacobsThe New InternationalJewish LifePart V: The Question of Zionism Jacob MilchDer yidisher kemferRandolph BourneHerts BurginThe ForvertsDi morgn frayhaytHayim GreenbergSamuel WeissBezalel ShermanArthur RosenbergErnest MandelAlbert GlotzerAlexander Bittelman Recommended Reading Index About the Editor

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Book SynopsisArgues that, for supporters of Israel, there is good news and bad news - and that at the core, we are fundamentally misunderstanding the new relationship between American Jews and Israel.Trade Review"The New American Zionism offers an important challenge to the widely accepted belief that the relationship between American Jews and Israel has entered a time of crisis . . . . Sasson's corrective to recent scholarship on distancing from Israel helps to explain the enduring centrality that Israel holds in American Jewish life across generational cohorts . . . . Thanks to this study, the distancing hypothesis now has an alternate interpretation of American Jewish attitudes toward Israel." -- Noam Pianko * H-Net *"Theodore Sasson's new book - The New American Zionism - is a serious book. That is to say that in a field filled with the ignorant, the manipulative, and the charlatanic, Sasson offers a fact-based and measured analysis of the uneasy relationship between American Jews and Israel. That the release of this book did not make huge waves in the world of punditry is therefore just as unsurprising as it is unfortunate: Sasson doesn't hyperventilate a catchy theory of doom, and doesn't project a new era of flourishing relations. He paints an accurate, if complicated, picture of a changing relationship - changing for good and for bad and, at times, in ways yet to be decided." -- Shmuel Rosner * Jewish Journal *"Offers bad news for Israel's critics by providing good news about American Jews' relationship with Israel. Sasson's thoughtful, subtle, compelling analysis of American Jewish public opinions provides a rich and readable look at the multidimensional and ever-evolving ties Jews have with the Jewish State." -- Gil Troy,author of Why I am A Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today"Theodore Sasson challenges the often facile and sensational claims of the 'distancing' of American Jews from Israel in this well written, deeply researched and original book. He persuasively argues that a new and vital pluralism distinguishes the current relationship between American Jewry and the Jewish state, contesting the fashionable prophets of despair with a view of how passionately and directly American Jews actually engage with Israel . . . . An essential study of a highly contested and emotional issue and an important contribution to the field of Diaspora-homeland studies." -- Ilan Troen,Director, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University"The New American Zionism emerges out of a decade-long debate among observers of American Jews, about whether Jewish attachments to Israel are waning. Sasson has quickly established himself as a skeptic of claims of distancing, and here he makes his strongest case yet, mounting an array of evidence that triangulates multiple methods and multiple data sources. Importantly, he treats thequestion of American Jewish engagement with Israel not simply as a matter of personal identities and feelings of attachment but of institutionalized collective behavior, shifting the terrain of the debate from social psychology to sociology." * Social Forces *"The New American Zionismis neither defense, nor lament, nor celebration, nor critique Readers can decide their own politics for themselves. This, along with the crisp prose, good opening primer on the history of the relationship, and rich focus-group data that bring in real peoples voices, make the book especially accessible to newcomers to the topic and well suited for undergraduate classes" * Social Forces *"How disconnected are American Jews from the State of Israel? Many have engaged with alarm the claims by commentators like Peter Beinart, who point to a waning enthusiasm young American Jews feel toward Israel. But is this an accurate picture? In his groundbreaking studyThe New American Zionism, Theodore Sasson analyzes several key but neglected indicators of American Jewish attitudes to add greater nuance to this question. Not only does he examine the fundamental problem raised by Beinart and others, he challenges the framework by which much scholarship has engaged with this loaded topic." * American Jewish History *"Sassons well-documented report may be a partial antidote to the recent Pew Report showing decreased religious affiliation among Jews. Despite the drop in centralized funding, overall giving to Israel has increased, and engagement by Americans with Israel is alive and well." * Publishers Weekly *"[] Theodore Sassons historical narrative,The New American Zionsimoffers a provocative multivocal rendition of the current discussions of the future of Israels longstanding, if sometimes vexed, relationship with United States Jewry" * Cultural Critique *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Mobilization 2. Advocacy and Activism 3. Fundraising and Philanthropy 4. Tourism and Immigration 5. Attitudes and Attachment 6. Direct Engagement Appendix: List of Organizations Glossary of Hebrew Terms Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThis text provides an illustrated world history of the Yiddish theatre covering five continents and more than 300 years.Trade ReviewI recommend Vagabond Stars to all who are interested in Yiddish theater, its development, and its role in Yiddish culture. The reader will find in it an ocean of information. What makes Sandrow’s work distinctive is the unusual blend of impeccable scholarship and hilarious backstage anecdote. The vividness of the book is enhanced by a collection of 125 rate illustrations—pictures of actors, scenes from plays and films, posters, newspaper cartoons, and other memorabilia. What a marvelous story it is—a hundred years of incredible vitality. Sandrow has chronicled it with fullness and deep affection. An admirable feat of scholarship on a marvelous and –alas—vanishing world. I know of no comparable work, so well written, in the field. There is great warmth here, and humor, and much that is touching—obviously a labor of love.

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Book SynopsisIn an exposition of writer S.Y. Abramovitsh, this work shows the symbolic importance of his central character, Mendele the Bookseller, and explores the history of Yiddish fiction in Russia during the 19th century.

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Book SynopsisColonel John Henry Patterson was an Irish-born soldier, lion hunter, bridge builder, East African game warden, author, man-about-town, and Zionist. This biography traces Patterson's life from his days as a British socialite to his command of the Jewish Legion of volunteers who helped drive the Turks out of Palestine.

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Book SynopsisBetter than any other single work, Daniel enables us to understand the significance of the transition Buber made from his early mysticism to the philosophy of dialogue. The book is written in the form of five dialogues, in each of which Daniel and his friends explore a crucial philosophical problem.Trade ReviewA thoroughly satisfying aesthetic experience, of great literary and philosophical worth and its publication in English is an important event. Highly recommended. A profound and inimitable work of great poetic beauty. Daniel reveals to us another side, as yet all but unknown, of the genius of Martin Buber.

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Book SynopsisFirst published serially in the Yiddish daily newspaper di Varhayt in 1916-18, Diary of a Lonely Girl, or The Battle against Free Love is a novel of intimate feelings and scandalous behaviours, shot through with a dark humour.Trade ReviewWho knew that a century before Lena Dunham’s Girls, a Yiddish writer named Miriam Karpilove was already telling the world, in mordant, sometimes hilarious prose, what it was like to be a young Jewish woman in New York City? In Jessica Kirzane’s expert translation, Karpilove’s novel is revealed as a brilliant critique of the political cant of its time, with ‘free love’ meaning, more often than not, protection for men and increased vulnerability for women. A lost treasure of modern Yiddish literature, Diary of a Lonely Girl will be a revelation to anyone who cares about immigrants’ experiences, women’s rights, and the roles of Jews in American radicalism. Jessica Kirzane's translation of Karpilove’s extraordinary novel, Diary of a Lonely Girl, opens up anew the life of a young Jewish woman in the early years of the last century. Here the complexities of desire, the challenges of free love and its simultaneous backlash could not be more relevant! TEACH this book, share it with your reading group, tell your friends about it! Kirzane has given new life to this heretofore little known classic! Both hilarious and sobering, Karpilove’s Diary breaks the mold of the serialized romance novel to bring us something unique: a sophisticated, insightful, and witty heroine who holds her own against bloviating suitors and prying landladies, never giving up her dreams of equality, freedom, and fulfillment in love. This is absolutely an original and needed book. So little Yiddish literature by women has been translated, especially literature by Yiddish women writers in the U.S. Many readers, scholars, students and teachers who cannot access the text in the original Yiddish will be delighted to have this translation with its thorough bio-critical introduction. The novel challenges many stereotypes and expectations about immigrant writing and thus offers a fresh and provocative take on the lives and preoccupations of early twentieth century immigrant Jews. Love, sexuality, and politics all merge in this brilliantly written novel of early twentieth-century immigrant life told from the perspective of a woman.

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Book SynopsisSix candid interviews introduce readers to a class of Muslim women rarely acknowledged in the West. The book aims to shed light on the status, conflicts and social realities of educated Muslim women in Pakistan. They tell of the conflicts and compromises with family and community.

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Book SynopsisIlluminating the Jewish art exhibition at the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1901, this study looks at its contributions to art and Jewish history and culture. Cultural Zionism was for the first time included into the official agenda, an important step for the politics of Zionism.

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Book SynopsisThis work examines reformations of Islam and culture in Turkey and the successful Islamic modernist Fethullah Gulen movement.

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Book SynopsisOffers an overview of the Sephardic presence in North and South America through eleven essays discussing culture, history, literature, language, religion and music.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThis pioneering ethnographic work centres on the dynamics of female authority within the religious life of a conservative Muslim community in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan. Peshkova draws upon several years of field research to chronicle the daily lives of women religious leaders, known as otinchalar, and the ways in which they exert a powerful influence in the religious life of the community.

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Book SynopsisAnalyses the emergence of modern Hebrew literature after 1780, a time when Jews were moving beyond their conventional Torah- and Zion-centred worldview. Taking a fresh look at the origins of modern Jewish literature, Frieden launches a new approach to literary studies, one that lies at the intersection of translation studies and travel writing.Trade ReviewFrieden cogently traces the path of making Hebrew a viable living language to a coterie of writers who preceded Mendele by half a century.""—Ruth Adler, professor of Jewish Studies and Comparative Literature at Baruch College""The stakes, the scope, and the thrust of this book are exemplary, explaining how travel literature exemplifies the acts of cultural transfer that are so much at the heart of Jewish literary modernity. . . . Frieden lays out in admirably clear detail the linguistic pieces of the puzzle.""—Jeremy Dauber, director of the Institute of Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University

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Book SynopsisMichael Levi Rodkinson is today frequently referred to as a minor Hasidic author and publisher, a characterization based on the criticism of his opponents rather than on his writings. In Literary Hasidism, Meir draws on those writings and their reception to present a completely different picture of this colourful and influential writer.Trade ReviewJonatan Meir portrays the career of one of the most ambivalent characters of the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, Michael Levi Rodkinson, and his move from the propagation of popular Hasidism to his more grandiose attempts to reframe and restructure the entire Jewish canon. This look into the world of the late nineteenthcentury Jewish Enlightenment will be an eye-opener.""—Pinchas Giller, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University""Meir has taken the relatively neglected figure of Rodkinson and created a detailed and fascinating portrait. He ably demonstrates that the boundaries between Hasidism and Haskalah were frequently crossed, and this markedly improves our understanding of the dynamics of Jewish intellectual history in the crucial period of the late nineteenth century.""—Ira Robinson, Concordia University

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Book SynopsisOffers a powerful and deeply affecting examination of the complex memories of Jewish survivors returning to their homes in Poland after the Holocaust. “What! Still Alive?!,” Rice investigates the transformation of survivors' memories from the first account after their initial return to Poland and later accounts, recorded at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

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Book SynopsisIn June 2017, the Jews of Libya commemorated the jubilee of their exodus from this North African land in 1967, which began with a mass migration to Israel in 1948-49. Jewish Libya collects the work of scholars who explore the community's history, its literature and dialect, topography and cuisine, and the difficult negotiation of trauma and memory.

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Book SynopsisA story of the impossible choices of vulnerable individuals living under the Third Reich and the blurred boundaries between victim, bystander, and accomplice.Trade ReviewThe authors have brought to light a fascinating subject, which, to my knowledge, has not been treated elsewhere, namely the story of a racially determined but not identifying Jew who became caught up in the Nazi death machine.""—Michael A. Meyer, author of Jewish Identity in the Modern World""A compelling read, and Milbouer’s translation does an excellent job of creating an English-language text that will capture the attention of a wide group of readers.""—Jonathan Hess, author of Middlebrow Literature and the Making of German-Jewish Identity""Willy Wiemokli’s journey through German history in the twentieth century is at the core of this compact and fascinating volume. His story is not one of heroism, but rather one of precarious existence, ethical compromise, and survival.""—Alan E. Steinweis, University of Vermont

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Book SynopsisSince the publication of their first controversial novels in the 1950s and 1960s, Philip Roth and Edna O'Brien have always argued against the isolation of mind from body, autobiography from fiction, life from art, and self from nation. In this book Dan O'Brien investigates these shared concerns of the two authors.Trade ReviewExceptional, original . . . O’Brien takes on a fascinating topic about which very little has been written and, in so doing, makes a valuable contribution to the growing corpus of books in the emergent field of Irish-Jewish studies. O'Brien's Fine Meshwork interlaces intricately the works, lives and preoccupations of two (variously) misunderstood contemporary writers so as to ask questions that go beyond considerations of nation and biography. O'Brien's carefully and playfully written study, with its bold thesis of flirtatious intertextuality, will do much to advance their cause, while offering new and exciting frameworks against which to consider Irish and Jewish-American literature both as separate entities and in relation to transnational and transatlantic studies.

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Book SynopsisTraces the prewar and wartime experiences of young adult Jews raised under distinct political and social systems. Each cohort harnessed the knowledge and skills attained during their formative years to seek survival during the Holocaust through narrow windows of chance.Trade ReviewThis magnificent book shows in a vivid narrative what it meant to live in the Polish and Soviet states as young Jews, and how that generation’s response to Nazi rule derived from prewar identities and behavioral patterns—remaining mostly distinct as Jews, or adapting to non-Jewish society. Borderland Generation masterfully weaves Jewish voices into a history grounded in archival documentation to reveal a multifaceted and layered understanding of the experiences of two Jewish communities located on either side of the Poland-Belorussian border region.”

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Book SynopsisIsrael's 1977 political election resulted in a dramatic defeat for the ruling Labor movement. The government passed into the hands of the rightwing nationalist movement. Elmaliach chronicles the fascinating story of Israel's political transformation between the 1950s and the 1970s, exploring the roots of the Labor movement's historic collapse.Trade ReviewA genuine contribution to the development and expansion of research on the evolution of the Israeli political system and the ways in which the deep processes of Israeli life should be understood.

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Book SynopsisShahrokh Meskoob was one of Iran's leading intellectuals and a preeminent scholar of Persian literary traditions, language, and cultural identity. In The Ant's Gift, Meskoob applies his insight and considerable analytical skills to the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran completed in 1010 by the poet Abul-Qusem Ferdowsi.

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Book SynopsisHezbollah’s influence in military issues is well known, but its role in shaping cultural and political activities has not received enough attention. Kanaaneh sheds new light on the organisation's successful evolution as a counterhegemonic force in the region's resistance movement, known as ""Maqawama"".

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Book SynopsisNo Arab historical figure is more demonized than the Egyptian literati-turned-Islamist Sayyid Qutb. A poet and literary critic in his youth, Qutb abandoned literature in the 1950s in favour of Islamism. This book offers a fresh perspective on Qutb's life that examines his Islamist commitment as a continuation of his literary project.

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Book SynopsisNo Arab historical figure is more demonized than the Egyptian literati-turned-Islamist Sayyid Qutb. A poet and literary critic in his youth, Qutb abandoned literature in the 1950s in favour of Islamism. This book offers a fresh perspective on Qutb's life that examines his Islamist commitment as a continuation of his literary project.

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Book SynopsisIn this groundbreaking collection of essays, interviews, and artwork, contributors draw upon a rich treasure trove of Jewish women’s comics to explore the representation of Jewish women’s bodies and bodily experience in pictorial narratives.

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Book SynopsisThis six-book set, is to date the most comprehensive annotated anthology of the authentic musical liturgy of the Eastern European synagogue Sabbath day services. Encyclopedic in scope, the thoroughness of its coverage is unprecedented.

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Book SynopsisIn this groundbreaking collection of essays, interviews, and artwork, contributors draw upon a rich treasure trove of Jewish women’s comics to explore the representation of Jewish women’s bodies and bodily experience in pictorial narratives.

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Book SynopsisIn this book Dr Anis Obeid, a Druze layman, provides a penetrating analysis of Druze scriptures and beliefs (Tawhid). Presenting a chronological narrative of the foundation and development of the faith, he explains the historical conditions and religious rationale behind this closed religion.Trade ReviewObeid’s work will receive deep appreciation and high readership by the majority of Druze in the West and other immigrants of Middle Eastern origins." - Intisar Azzam, author of Change for Continuity"This book is above all a plea directed to all Druze, East and West, to take up the task of fundamental reform....The work’s eight chapters are accompanied by an excellent bibliography." - Choice

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Book SynopsisHow feminists and Islamists have constituted each other’s agendas in MoroccoTrade Review"Between Feminism and Islam challenges the common assumption in the media and the academy that Islamism and feminism are quintessentially opposed ideologies. Through a careful sociological and ethnographic account of Moroccan feminist and Islamist women’s organizations, Zakia Salime shows how the two have transformed each other through decades of activism, debate, and engagement. This is an indispensable book for sociologists of gender, religion, politics, feminism, the Middle East, and Islam." —Saba Mahmood, author of Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject"This balanced and informative analysis of the decades long entanglements between secular feminists and Islamist women activists in Morocco is a radical departure from conventional understandings of a polarized political scene. Salime reveals how political actors have responded to and learned from each other, changing strategies, ideologies, and visions, putting the debates and practices of women activists in dynamic historical time and changing world contexts, including the war on terror." —Lila Abu-Lughod, author of Remaking Women: Feminism and Modernity in the Middle EastTable of ContentsContentsIntroduction: Struggles over Political Power: Entangled Feminist and Islamist Movements1. Gender and the Nation State: Family Law, Scholars, Activists, and Dissidents2. Feminization of the Islamist Movements: The One Million Signature Campaign3. Reversing the Feminist Gains: The Islamist Mass Rally of 2000 4. Feminism and Islamism Redefined: In Light of the 2003 Terror Attack on Casablanca5. Subversive Veiling: Beyond the Binary of the Secular and the ReligiousNotes GlossaryBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Gretchen Buggeln’s The Suburban Church beautifully recovers the life and cultural significance of a post-1945 American regional architecture so ubiquitous we’ve hardly noticed it. Focused on the prodigious output of three prominent Midwest architects, The Suburban Church pops their sanctuaries into view so forcefully that readers will never drive by again without stopping—a transforming and deft cultural reconstruction."—Jon Butler, Yale University"There’s value in [Buggeln’s] documentation, especially as many of those involved in building the churches have passed away. It’s no small compliment to say that her enthusiasm for the individuals in this movement is winning."—TheNew Republic"Intended for graduate students and their professors, the book might nonetheless gain some attention from pastors and those appointed to building committees."—Catholic Library World"Buggeln’s thorough study of the suburban American church is a great read, full of detail delivered through superb architectural historical story-telling."—Art and Christianity"A fascinating account of the philosophical and practical origins of these churches and a paean to the vibrant communities that built and used them."—Marginalia "Preservationists, church members, historians, and students of suburbs should all rely on this essential work."—David R. Bains, The Annals of Iowa"This is an excellent and detailed account of the postwar growth in Protestant church building and architecture in the Midwest. A passionate story."—Journal of American Culture"Buggeln's well-written, engaging, and detailed text will be of great use to historians of architecture, as well as religion. She has conducted exhaustive research from a wide variety of sources including church memorabilia and records, oral histories, architectural drawings, and contemporary newspapers and periodicals, in addition to the essential secondary texts."—Buildings & LandscapesTable of ContentsContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction. New Times, New Architecture: Making a Place for Religion in Postwar Suburbia1. The Modern Church Movement2. The “Form-Givers” of Suburban Religion: Three Midwestern Architects3. From Dream to Dedication: The Shared Work of Church Building4. The A-frame Church: Symbol of an Era5. The Suburban Sanctuary: A House for the Worshipping Community6. Living and Learning as a Suburban Church Family: Modern Spaces for Education and Fellowship7. Religion, Architecture, and Community in the Celebrated Suburb of Park Forest, Illinois8. The Afterlife of the Postwar Suburban ChurchAppendix A: National Council of Churches of Christ List of Eighteen “Outstanding” New Churches, 1956Appendix B: Statement on Architecture and the Church, International Conference on Architecture and the Church, Bossy, Switzerland, 1959Appendix C: Working List of Stade Churches and Religious BuildingsAppendix D: List of Dart ChurchesAppendix E: List of Sovik Churches 1949-70NotesSources for ResearchIndex

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Book SynopsisElusive Jannah is a remarkable portrait of the very different experiences of Somali migrants in the UAE, South Africa, and the United States. Cawo M. Abdi clearly reveals the importance of immigration policies in the migrant experience.Trade Review"This is a powerful and beautiful ethnography of members of the Somali Diaspora dealing with the opportunities and disadvantages of life in three points of settlement. Cawo M. Abdi gets very close to the subjects and depicts their outlooks, strategies, and trials in a convincing and rich manner."—Steven J. Gold, Michigan State University"Elusive Jannah provides a fascinating window into the identities, strategies, and struggles of Somalis in three very different national contexts. Based on ethnographic research in the United States, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates, this is an engaging, well-written, and welcome addition to the comparative study of international migration."—Nancy Foner, coauthor of Strangers No More: Immigration and the Challenges of Integration in North America and Western Europe"The book remains a valuable contribution to studies of international migration and it is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Somalia and its diaspora."—African Affairs"The multiplicity of experiences and diverse contexts highlighted by Cawo drive home the complexities of diasporic lives,making this book an important resource for both area and diaspora studies."—International Migration Review"Elusive Jannah offers depth and breadth to the literature on Somali diaspora groups and more generally to studies of international migration and migrant incorporation and belonging. It deserves to be widely read for its beautiful ethnography and insightful analysis of belonging and mobility in an age of stratified globalization and migration."—American Journal of SociologyTable of ContentsContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Muslim African Refugees and Border Politics1. The Genesis of Contemporary Somali Migrations2. United Arab Emirates: Partial Belonging and Temporary Visas3. South Africa: Insecurity in Racialized Spaces4. United States: Slippery Jannah?Conclusion: Muslim African Refugees in Perpetual PassageNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisDescribing the tensions that existed between the Sephardic community of Bordeaux and the Ashkenazic Jews of France, the author also depicts their role in the relation of the Jews with Napoleon and the forming of the Grand Sanhedrin.Trade ReviewMalino's work is a welcome addition.... [She] describes very clearly the tensions that existed between the Sephardic community of Bordeaux and the Ashkenazic Jews of France [and] clearly depicts their role in the relation of the Jews with Napoleon and the forming of the Grand Sanhedrin. - Choice; ""Malino writes... in such a fashion that the whole transit of Jews to modernity is illumined."" - Christian Century; ""Malino's book is valuable to students of both the early state and Jewish history."" - American Historical Review

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNahum Goldmann, Zionist leader, diplomat, the founder of the World Jewish Congress and its president for many years, enjoyed one of the most disputed reputations in Zionist circles.... [in this book], Goldmann emerges as an interesting personality, a bon-vivant, a brilliant conversationalist, and a most gifted diplomat. - Jewish Quarterly Review; ""Recommended to all who are interested in exploring the life of one of the most interesting Jews of the century."" - Choice

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